Method and apparatus for recording manufacturer information on a recording medium and for determining whether the manufacturer information is effective

ABSTRACT

A recording medium and a recording apparatus for storing manufacturer information for supporting specific functions for each manufacturer and a method therefor. A reproducing apparatus for reproducing manufacturer information for supporting specific functions and a method therefor is also provided. If a recording apparatus modifies the contents of the recording medium, then it should record its manufacturer&#39;s identification code. A recording apparatus/reproducing apparatus should check the identification code on the recording medium before using its own manufacture information item for some specific function. Also, it is possible to reduce the time required to determine whether the manufacturer information items are effective.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/737,166filed on Apr. 19, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,437,614, which is acontinuation of application Ser. No. 11/269,740 filed on Nov. 9, 2005,now U.S. Pat. No. 7,228,062, which is a continuation of application Ser.No. 10/143,930 filed on May 14, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,245,823, whichis a division of application Ser. No. 09/337,253 filed on Jun. 22, 1999,now U.S. Pat. No. 7,039,295, which claims the benefit of KoreanApplication Nos. 98-23487 filed on Jun. 22, 1998, and 98-30753 filed onJul. 29, 1998, in the Korean Industrial Property Office. The disclosuresof application Ser. Nos. 11/737,166, 11/269,740, 10/143,930, and09/337,253 and Korean Application Nos. 98-23487 and 98-30753 areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to optical recording and reproduction(recording/reproduction) of video and/or audio data. More particularly,the present invention relates to a recording medium for storingidentification information of a manufacturer of a recorder whichmodifies the contents of the recording medium, and a recorder and/or aplayer which have the manufacturer specific information and a methodtherefor.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIG. 1 shows a one dimensional structure of a general recording medium.As shown in FIG. 1, a volume space, which is the entire recordingmedium, is comprised of a volume and file structure area and areas inwhich real data is recorded (used blocks #1, #2, and #3). Real data canbe recorded in a physically scattered state by editing in apredetermined unit, such as a program or a title. General information onthe disc and information on the structures of a file and a directory, asshown in FIG. 2, are recorded in the volume and file structure area.

FIG. 2 shows files existing on a file system used for an apparatus forrecording and reproducing audio and/or video (A/V) data on a rewritablerecording medium. A bitstream file is a file in which real A/V data isrecorded. An information file is a file containing information on thebitstream file. The file system may also include a resource file.

FIG. 3 shows the contents of the information file shown in FIG. 2. Thecontents can be classified into formatted bitstream information having acommon format among manufacturers, and manufacturer (specific)information having an individual format which is not compatible betweenmanufacturers. The formatted information, which includes information forhaving a common function regardless of the manufacturer, is necessary tomaintain compatibility. For example, the formatted information includesinformation on the starting position of a specific title in thebitstream file and information on a position corresponding to a specifictime interval. The recorder and/or player obtains information on whichposition in the bitstream file is to be recorded and which position isto be reproduced through the formatted information andrecords/reproduces the bitstream file on the basis of the obtainedinformation.

The manufacturer information that is used by each manufacturer tosupport specific functions of the respective manufacturer does not needto be compatible. For example, a function of recording information onthe finally reproduced position in the bitstream file as themanufacturer information item and automatically reproducing from aposition next to the finally reproduced position when the recordingmedium is reproduced later is an example of a specific function usingmanufacturer information. The specific function is supported only in therecording medium recorder/player which can support the manufacturerinformation.

In detail, as shown in FIG. 3, the contents of the manufacturerinformation are comprised of a manufacturer information header, forexample, having information on the number of items (n) of themanufacturer information; the same number (n) of manufacturerinformation search pointers having information on the positions of therespective item of the manufacturer information (manufacturerinformation search pointer #1, . . . , manufacturer information searchpointer #n); and the respective manufacturer information items(manufacturer information item #1, . . . , manufacturer information item#n). A recorder/player of each manufacturer is expected to have at leastone manufacturer information item.

The contents of the manufacturer information items can be understood andutilized only in the recorder/player of the specific manufacturer whichgenerated the manufacturer information items, and are not compatiblewith the recorders/players of other manufacturers.

As described above, since the information for the specific function ofthe individual manufacturer is not compatible with information of othermanufacturers, if additional recording/deleting processes are performedby a recorder/editor manufactured by a manufacturer B on a recordingmedium having the manufacturer information generated by a manufacturerA, the manufacturer information of the manufacturer A may not beeffective any longer. Since the manufacturer information is unique tothe manufacturer A, only the manufacturer A can analyze and modify theinformation. Thus, the manufacturer B cannot modify or managemanufacturer A's information. When a recording medium of which thecontents are modified is returned to the recorder/player of themanufacturer A for more recording or reproducing, a mis-operation canoccur since the information item containing the information for thespecific function set by the manufacturer A may no longer be effective.Therefore, a check should always be made as to whether the manufacturerinformation is effective before using the manufacturer information madeby the manufacturer A when a recording medium is newly loaded into arecorder/player of the manufacturer A. Verification processes arecomplicated and it can take a long time to perform the processes whenthere is a large amount of recorded A/V data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a first object of the present invention to provide a recordingmedium for storing manufacturer information for a specific function ofrecorders/players of different manufacturers.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a recordingmedium for storing identification information of the manufacturer of arecorder/editor which last performed recording/deleting on the recordingmedium.

It is a third object of the present invention to provide arecorder/editor for and method of storing on a recording mediummanufacturer information for a specific function of the recorder/editorof each different manufacturer.

It is a fourth object of the present invention to provide arecorder/editor for and a method of storing on a recording mediumidentification information of a manufacturer of the recorder/editorwhich performs recording/deleting.

It is a fifth object of the present invention to provide arecorder/player for and method of using the manufacturer informationstored on the recording medium for the specific function of therecorders/players of each different manufacturer.

It is a sixth object of the present invention to provide arecorder/player for and method of checking whether the identificationinformation of the manufacturer of a recorder/editor which last performsrecording/deleting on the recording medium is the same as theidentification information of the manufacturer of the recorder/player todetermine whether or not the manufacturer information is effective. Thatis, if the respective identification information is the same, then themanufacturer information item is effective. If not, the manufacturerinformation item may be not effective, thus requiring completeverification.

The above objects are achieved in accordance with the present inventionwith a rewritable recording medium to store audio/video (A/V) contents,including formatted information for the A/V contents, and manufacturerinformation to support the manufacturer's specific function, wherein themanufacturer information comprises an identification code of amanufacturer of a recording apparatus that last modified the contents ofthe recording medium.

The above objects are achieved in accordance with the present inventionwith a recording apparatus for recording and/or editing audio, video,and/or information data on a rewritable recording medium, comprising arecording controller to produce A/V contents and formatted informationfor the A/V contents and manufacturer information to support themanufacturer's specific function, wherein the manufacturer informationcomprises an identification code of the manufacturer of a recordingapparatus that last modified the contents of the recording medium.

The above objects are achieved in accordance with the present inventionwith a reproducing apparatus for reproducing audio, video, and/orinformation data on a rewritable recording medium, comprising areproducing controller to reproduce A/V contents and formattedinformation for the A/V contents and manufacturer information to supporta manufacturer's specific function, wherein the manufacturer informationcomprises an identification code of the manufacturer of the recordingapparatus that last modified the contents of the recording medium.

The above objects are achieved in accordance with the present inventionwith a method of recording and/or editing audio, video, and/orinformation data on a rewritable recording medium, comprising recordingan identification code of the manufacturer of a recording apparatuswhich last modified the contents of the recording medium by performingrecording/editing on the recording medium.

The above objects are achieved in accordance with the present inventionwith a method of recording/reproducing audio, video, and/or informationdata on a rewritable recording medium with a recording/reproducingapparatus using manufacturer information recorded on the recordingmedium, comprising verifying a coincidence of an identification code ofa manufacturer which last modified the contents of the recording mediumand its own manufacturer identification code to determine whether itsmanufacturer specific information is effective.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects and advantages of the present invention will becomemore apparent by describing in detail a preferred embodiment thereofwith reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a one-dimensional structure of a general recording medium;

FIG. 2 shows the file structure of the recording medium shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows the contents of the information file shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an optical recording and reproducingapparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of detailed contents of amanufacturer information header for supporting a manufacturer specificfunction according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a table showing another example of detailed contents of amanufacturer information header according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a table showing the contents of a manufacturer informationsearch pointer according to the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a table showing the contents of a manufacturer informationitem according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a recording medium and arecorder/editor for storing manufacturer information for supportingspecific functions of the manufacturer and a recorder/player for usingmanufacturer information for supporting specific functions of themanufacturer according to the present invention and preferredembodiments of a method therefor will be described.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an optical recording and reproducingapparatus in accordance with the present invention. The function of anapparatus for recording A/V data on and reproducing A/V data from arecordable and rewritable recording medium is divided into recording andreproducing.

During recording, an A/V codec 110 compression-codes an A/V signal inputby a predetermined compression coding scheme. A digital signal processor(DSP) 120 receives A/V data supplied from the A/V codec 110, adds paritydata for an error correction code (ECC) process, and performs modulationby a predetermined modulation scheme. A radio-frequency amplifier (RFAMP) 130 converts data supplied from the DSP 120 into an RF signal. Apick-up unit 140 drives a recording medium, records data correspondingto the RF signal from the RF AMP 130 on a recording medium, and includesan actuator for performing focusing and tracking. A servo unit 150receives information required for controlling the actuator of thepick-up unit 140 from the RF AMP 130 and a system controller 160 andperforms a stable servo operation. The system controller 160 controlsthe entire system, controls the A/V data to be recorded on the recordingmedium, and records information including information on the size andthe position of the compressed data as well as manufacturer informationon the recorder/editor performing the specific function, therecording/editing. Also, the system controller 160 determines whetherthe manufacturer information recorded on the recording medium iseffective using the identification information on the recorder/editorperforming the recording/editing functions by finally accessing therecording medium, and controls recording/editing operations using thedetermined manufacturer information.

During reproduction, the pick-up unit 140 provides an optical signalpicked up from the recording medium in which data is stored. The RF AMP130 converts the optical signal into an electrical signal and extractsthe servo signal for performing the servo and extracts the modulateddata. The DSP 120 demodulates the modulated data supplied from the RFAMP 130 corresponding to the modulation scheme used upon modulation,corrects errors by performing ECC, and removes the parity data. Theservo unit 150 receives information required for controlling theactuator of the pick-up unit 140 from the RF AMP 130 and the systemcontroller 160 and performs a stable servo operation. The A/V codec 110decodes the compressed A/V data supplied from the DSP 120 and outputs anA/V signal. The system controller 160 controls the entire system toreproduce data using the information recorded on the recording medium,performing a user interface, i.e., processing the key input of the user.Also, the system controller 160 determines whether the manufacturerinformation recorded on the recording medium is effective using theidentification information on the recorder/editor performing therecording/editing functions by finally accessing the recording medium,and controls reproducing operations using the determined manufacturerinformation.

FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of detailed contents included in amanufacturer information header for a manufacturer specific functionaccording to the present invention. The table shown in FIG. 5 can becomprised of MNFI_Ns which is information on the number of manufacturerinformation items, a manufacturer identification code (LAST_MN)indicating the manufacturer of the recorder/editor which last modifiedthe contents of the recording medium. Moreover, the table shown in FIG.5 can include a product code (LAST_PROD) indicating the product model ofthe recorder/editor which last modified the recording medium, and anoperation code (OP_CD) expressed by a predetermined code indicatinginformation on an operation performed by the recorder/editor, forexample, an operation of modifying A/V bitstream data on the recordingmedium by recording, editing, erasing, and a specific function otherthan simple reproduction.

The manufacturer identification code is for classifying differentmanufacturers, in which the respective manufacturers are expected tohave unique values. Simple text data of the manufacturer's name can beused because it is very difficult to imagine that differentmanufacturers have the same name.

The operation code has compatibility since it must be understood bydifferent manufacturers. The information on the recorder/editorperforming the recording/editing by finally accessing the recordingmedium and the information on the performed operation are provided byrecording such information in the manufacturer information header ineach recorder/editor performing the recording/editing by accessing therecording medium. When only simple reproduction is performed,manufacturer identification information of the reproducing apparatus isnot recorded in the manufacturer information header because there is nochange in the contents of the recording medium.

Examples of using the manufacturer information using the above datastructure are as follows. When the manufacturer A generates amanufacturer information item and records information on the recordingmedium and the manufacturer B edits the recording medium in therecorder/editor, the recorder/editor of the manufacturer B records theidentification code of the manufacturer B, the product code of therecorder/editor and the operation code indicating information includingthat an editing operation has been performed on the manufacturerinformation header as shown in FIG. 5, before ejecting the recordingmedium.

When the data recorded on the recording medium is overwritten, edited,and reproduced using the manufacturer information item by the recorder,editor, and player of the manufacturer A, the identification informationon the manufacturer which last used the recording medium, productinformation of the recorder/editor, and information on the operationperformed in the manufacturer information header, it is determinedwhether the manufacturer information items to be used during recording,editing, and reproducing are effective.

If the manufacturer identification code recorded in the recording mediumwhich identifies the manufacturer that last modified the recordingmedium is consistent with the concerned recorder/editor/player'smanufacturer identification code, it is determined that the concernedmanufacturer information item is effective. If the manufactureridentification code recorded in the recording medium is not consistentwith the concerned manufacturer identification code, it must bedetermined whether the manufacturer information items to be used areeffective by analyzing the entire contents of the recording medium. Whenthe manufacturer information items are effective, they can be used.

Also, when the recorder/editor which last modified the recording mediumis the current recorder/editor and the editing operation is finallyperformed, it is easily judged that the manufacturer information itemfor the manufacturer is effective since it is possible to update themanufacturer information item according to the recording/editingoperation by analyzing the contents of the manufacturer information itemcorresponding to the modified contents. Accordingly, it is possible toreduce the time required to determine whether the manufacturerinformation items are effective. When the manufacturer information itemsare effective, it is possible to perform the recording, the editing,and/or reproduction using the manufacturer information items.

FIG. 6 is another example of a manufacturer information header accordingto the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, MNFI_Ns indicates thenumber of manufacturer information items, MNFIT_EA indicates the lastaddress of a manufacturer information, LAST_MN indicates anidentification code of a manufacturer of a recorder/editor which lastmodified A/V contents. LAST_PROD indicates a code of a product whichlast modified the A/V contents. MN_CD indicates the manufacturer codecorresponding to the number of manufacturer information items, andPROD_CD indicates the product codes of the respective manufacturerinformation items. FILE_NAME indicates the file name of an additionalfile for individual information, and REC_TM indicates the time in whichindividual information was recorded. The MN_CD and/or PROD_CD and/orFILE_NAME and/or REC_TM can be recorded in the beginning part of therespective manufacturer information items.

To restrict the size of manufacturer information, there is a maximumnumber of MNFI_Ns (for example, up to 5). When the number ofmanufacturer information items exceeds the maximum number, the oldestrecords can be deleted. If the manufacturer information item has anadditional file when the manufacturer information item is deleted, thisfile is also deleted. When a recorder/editor modifies the recordingmedium contents and it has its own manufacturer information item, onlythe concerned manufacturer information item is updated and othermanufacturer information items should remain unchanged. When arecorder/editor modifies the recording medium contents but it does nothave its own manufacturer information item, even in this case, theidentification code of the manufacturer which modifies the recordingmedium should be recorded.

MNFIT_EA is the last address of a manufacturer information, for example,having a relative block number (RBN) from the first byte position of themanufacturer information header. LAST_MN denotes a manufactureridentification code which last modified the A/V contents. It ismandatory to have this recorded when the A/V contents are modified bythe recorder/editor even if the recorder/editor does not have themanufacturer information item therefor. LAST_PROD denotes a product codeof the product which last modified the A/V contents. It must be recordedwhen the recorder/editor modifies the A/V contents even if therecorder/editor does not have the manufacturer information itemtherefor. Since the manufacturer identification codes must be classifiedaccording to the respective manufacturers, they preferably have uniquevalues according to the respective manufacturers. Also, since amanufacturer may have various products, it is recommended that themanufacturer manage the product codes.

Namely, a set in which the A/V contents are modified in order to makethe information in relation to real A/V contents identical to A/Vcontents must record the manufacturer identification information in themanufacturer identification code field (LAST_MN) of the manufacturerinformation header even if there is no manufacturer information item ofits own. Also, when the recording medium is inserted into a set, it mustbe checked whether the real A/V contents are identical to themanufacturer's information item which is specific to the manufacturer inrelation to the A/V contents of the recording medium. The first andeasiest way is to check the identification code of the manufacturerwhich last modified the A/V contents of the recording medium. When theA/V contents are modified by another manufacturer's equipment, aconcerned set must modify or update the information in relation to A/Vcontents.

MN_CD and PROD_CD are manufacturer codes and the product codes, as manyas stored manufacturer information items, to indicate that eachmanufacturer information item belongs to which manufacturer and product.When the information for the manufacturer products exists in anadditional file, FILE_NAME is the name of the file. If there is no file,the FILE_NAME is filled with a special value. REC_TM denotes the timewhen the information is recorded. MN_CD, REC_TM, PROD_CD, FILE_NAME canbe recorded in the beginning part of the respective manufacturerinformation items.

FIG. 7 is a table showing the contents of a manufacturer informationsearch pointer according to the present invention. FIG. 7 includesMNFI_SA which denotes the starting address of the manufacturerinformation item. The MNFI_SA is the starting address of themanufacturer information item, for example, having RBN from the firstbyte of the manufacturer information header.

FIG. 8 is a table showing the contents of the manufacturer informationitems according to the present invention, which has bytes of variablelength. The maximum size of the information is, for example, 10Kilobytes (KB). When the size of the information exceeds 10 KB, theadditional information file of the manufacturer can be used.

As described above, according to the present invention, a recordingmedium is provided, which contains A/V data and formatted information touse the A/V data for recording and reproducing, and manufacturerinformation to support manufacturer specific functions which cannot beimplemented using the formatted information. Moreover, manufacturerinformation is provided to support multiple manufacturer informationitems. Such information also contains the identification code of themanufacturer which last modified the contents of the recording medium.This information can be used to check the effectiveness of its ownmanufacturer information item when the recording medium is recorded,edited, and reproduced by multiple equipment of different manufacturerssince the manufacturer information item which is specific to themanufacturer cannot be managed by other manufacturers' equipment.Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the time taken to determinewhether the manufacturer information items are effective.

Although a few preferred embodiments of the present invention have beenshown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A reproducing method of reproducing audio-visual(AV) data from a recording medium on which manufacturer information isrecorded, the reproducing method comprising: reading the AV data and themanufacturer information from the recording medium; and reproducing theAV data by using the manufacturer information to support amanufacturer's specific function, wherein: the manufacturer informationcomprises a manufacturer information table and a manufacturerinformation header, the manufacturer information table comprises atleast one item of manufacturer specific information, and themanufacturer information header comprises: information on a last addressof the at least one item of manufacturer specific information recordedin the manufacturer information table, the number of items of themanufacturer specific information recorded in the manufacturerinformation table, and identification information of a manufacturer of arecording apparatus that recorded an item of manufacturer specificinformation in the manufacturer information table.
 2. A reproducingapparatus to reproduce audio-visual (AV) data from a recording medium onwhich manufacturer information is recorded, the apparatus comprising: areading unit configured to read the AV data and the manufacturerinformation from the recording medium; a reproducing unit configured toreproduce the AV data; and a controlling unit configured to control thereproducing of the reproducing unit by using the manufacturerinformation to support a manufacturer's specific function, wherein: themanufacturer information comprises a manufacturer information table anda manufacturer information header, the manufacturer information tablecomprises at least one item of manufacturer specific information, andthe manufacturer information header comprises: information on a lastaddress of the at least one item of manufacturer specific informationrecorded in the manufacturer information table, the number of items ofthe manufacturer specific information recorded in the manufacturerinformation table, and identification information of a manufacturer of arecording apparatus that recorded an item of manufacturer specificinformation in the manufacturer information table.